Ontario: Ontario’s leading physician has once again ‘strongly’ advised people of the province to wear masks in indoor, including schools and childcare centers, due to the spread of respiratory diseases in children.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health did not announce making masks mandatory, but he strongly advised to people for wearing masks indoors and public setting as Covid-19 cases, RSV and flu cases strain Canadian hospitals.
He had previously said that he would make it mandatory for hospitals to wear masks in some indoor settings.
In a news conference on Monday morning, Dr. Kieran Moore said, “Right now, we face a” triple threat”, including covid-19 influenza and RSV. All three of these things are actively circulating in our communities.”
When asked why they don’t make masks mandatory, Dr. Moore said that these conditions are different from Covid. It’s about saving our children.
He told parents, grandparents, siblings that if they have any respiratory problems, then they should wear masks around those who are weak.
“We need to jointly take action to protect the most vulnerable in the province,” Moore said.
“Covid is not affecting our children,” Dr Moore said. RSV and influenza are combining to force children to get admitted to the hospital.
He said half of the children admitted in the ICU have RSV and the others have influenza. He also said that it was up to the school boards to decide whether masks should be made mandatory in schools or not.
The province is increasing the paediatric capacity in hospitals to 150 per cent and also said that to accept children 14 and older only in need of intensive care.